Party Favor
by stikjok
Summary: Takes place immediately after 'Gift'


_Tara_

Party Favor

Jade and I had been to the Rice's warehouse many times, but mainly to use the toilet. Cent had shown us around and talked about what the family used it for, mostly for storage for their NGO work, temporary storage for anything going up or down orbitside, or just anything you might want wide open spaces for. But it was dirty, and littered, and the lighting was either too harsh or too dim. Nothing to party in unless you have it full of raving teens, which this wasn't going to be.

So the month before Cents' 18th, Jade and I were talking on the phone about what to do and where to do it. "It's not like we can just call a bar and reserve the back room," Jade said. "Jon Stewart has done like four shows all about her and the Station just since the Connie del Olmo special. She's on the cover of magazines and newspapers and, well, _you_ know."

I did. Cent had come a long way from the shy new student she was when we had met her. She was famous, but a lot of bad went with the good. Apex had hired a full time clerk to help me deal with all the mail, both the snail kind and e- kind that came to her out of the blue. There was a lot of begging, bartering and threats mixed in with the good wishes. Mr. and Mrs Rice and I were still trying to come up with a policy to handle all that crap besides handing the worst of it over the the feds. The Rices didn't like doing anything that put them close to the feds.

Jade sounded tired and frustrated when she said, "Well, what _do_ famous people do? I know they have to put up with all that paparazzi crap, but you'd think they have a way to have a life too!" And the answer was right there. I told her to get cracking on an invite list, and I put in a call to Connie. She had given me her card.

"Okay, so here's the situation." I started. "We're all new to the famous thing, other than just trying to avoid the reporters. We need advice from someone that's had to deal with it on this level. How to get some privacy, how to get things done without the world watching, that kind of thing."

"Don't ask me!" she laughed. "Arlington isn't the big time. Your interview has been the biggest thing to happen to me in years… _no_ one is following me home." She paused a moment and then said slowly, "I may have someone I can call, though. Will you be at this number in an hour?" I said sure, no prob, and said goodbye.

She called back on time and gave me a number and some instructions. I kind of stuttered when repeating them back to her. I put down the handset of my home phone and took a deep breath. _You can do it, girl. _I picked it up again and dialed the number I had been given.

"This is Mickey Spader," I heard. I replied, "This is Tara Bochinclonny. Did Connie talk to you about me?"

"Yeah! He's going to flip his lid when he hears about this. Just a second and I'll connect you. You mind if I stay on the line after I introduce you?"

I said I didn't and then heard a series of clicks. "Hello? Mickey?" Yup. I recognized the voice.

Mickey said over the line, "Yeah, Tom. I've got somebody that wants some advice. You _want_ to take this call."

"OOOOOkay," He drew the word out slowly. "Um, who are you and what have you done with my agent?"

"Hello, Mister Hanks. My name is Tara, and I work for Apex Orbital services and Spacegirl. I was hoping to ask some questions."

This guy had won Oscars and Emmys. But he also was a huge booster for NASA and the space program. Mickey was right. He flipped. He was on location for a movie called 'A Hologram for the King' in Egypt, but gave exactly the kind of advice we needed, and some phone numbers his assistant passed on to him. He sounded wistful that he wasn't going to get to meet Cent, but insisted that his wife would be glad to help us out if we needed her.

We finished and I hung up, grinning like a loon. _Tom _Effing _Hanks_. I was really getting to love this job.

Three days later I met with Cent's Mom and Dad and laid out the budget and plans Jade and I had come up with for the party. I asked them to serve as transport for the people we were inviting and to set up the two-way coms so her grandmother could join in. They agreed to the open bar and the video corner, but vetoed our choice of band in favor of a short list that they knew she liked. The Ball was Rolling.

What Mr. Hanks had passed on was that there were companies that specialized in privacy and parties, that put up a bond to ensure that everything was taken care of and not talked about before or after. We gave them the expected number of people and our particulars. The estimate was _high_. Ah, well. The price of Fame.

Cent was to meet me and Jade at my house in the afternoon that day, but when she got there, her Dad was waiting behind us. He smiled widely and said, "Happy Birthday, Honey. Stand still." There was a flicker behind Cent and they were both _gone_, just that fast. I guess practice makes perfect. Jade and I picked up our presents and he appeared in front of us, reaching out to hug. We let him, and the lighting changed.

There was a big group gathered around Cent, hugging and kissing her. Mister Rice looked down at us and mouthed, "Thank You."

The company had set us up, believe it or not, in a big bowling alley called the 'Strike Zone' in suburban Los Angeles. It was huge, with a game area and a bar with a bandstand and a karaoke area. There were waiters wandering everywhere with platters of tasties and the band was Jonny Lang, a great blues artist that Cent was gaga for. Jade's invite list included everyone working for Apex that wasn't currently in orbit, some other friends she had made in New Prospect, and a lot of peeps that her Mom added that we didn't know.

It was a love fest. I took Jades' gift bag and set it on the table provided for the purpose, then we went to the bar and got some drinks. I looked around and noted the subtle security with approval. It was going to be a blast. There were lots of the new mylar balloons that Blimpwerks had started making, licensing the image of Kristen Station.

Jade and I stuck together around the fringes of the party for about an hour before hooking up with Cent and Joe, who had been looking for us. They grabbed us by the arm and we fetched some shoes and started a game, one couple against the other. Joe and I ruled. Jade and Cent may have had some of the jock flair on the snow slopes, but neither of them had spent much time on bowling lanes. I wasn't much over eighteen myself, and the feeling of having a long island iced tea in public was still kind of strange.

Jade and I won the first game, while other games were picking up around us. I noticed that the glass of wine that Cent had was looking like it would last her all night, sipping as she was. I said something about it. "Girl, if your eighteenth isn't reason enough to overdo it there's no better time. Drink up, baby!"

She smiled kind of sadly, then craned her neck around, gathering in Joe and Jade with her eyes. "Let me tell all of you at once, so you know what's going on. Right after I started jumping, my Dad sat me down and explained something to me. "Cent," He said. "You don't give someone that's drunk his keys so he can drive away. I want you to think about the fact that no one can take your keys away from you in the first place.

"What's more, the car you drive around is more like a tank, capable of a helluva mess. You are the personal guardian to a potential weapon of mass destruction, and you need to take care of it exactly like that. You can't ever lose control, honey bear. People might get hurt."

Cent shrugged. "So, the one glass of wine. On top of everything else, Daddy's afraid that alcoholism might be a part of the Rice genetic makeup. A little caution wouldn't be a horrible thing."

I nodded slowly. No, not a horrible thing at all.

We headed back to the music after another game and danced some. There was a guy stationed next to the 30" display showing Cent's grandmother and Tessa that held a camera, pointing it at whoever was talking to them. It really made them a part of the bash, and I wished I had thought of it.

It was nice seeing Joe and Cent together, touching often, looking around to check on each other much of the night. She looked so much happier than when she had first reconnected with Jade and I. I recognized a face and left Jade to go introduce myself. "Ms. Wilson? Or is it Mrs. Hanks? I'm Tara. Your husband helped me with the planning of this shindig."

She had a beautiful smile. "It's Rita, honey. Tom asked me to come and make sure you were taken care of… and get an autograph from the birthday girl, if I can."

Smiling was contagious. "Come with me, Ma'am. This will be my pleasure."

Cent was very polite when introduced, then "Oh, wow! I remember you from _Volunteers_! I loved that movie!" Rita shook her hand as she replied, "Ah, so you're the one!"

They got along great, and Rita was able to get Cent to promise to give Tom a short trip to Kristen so Samantha could meet him… she was a big fan of his, and of course, Tom would cut off a foot to visit space.

The evening was great. The highlight for me was when Cent showed off her newest trick. She said it was going to be no secret; she was going to be using it in the next phase of her plans.

She gathered some people around outside the bar and had Joe at the head of a line in front of her. "This will look very strange, but just follow Joe's lead on this."

She _blurred_ We could see through her to the other side! Except… it wasn't, not really. We could all see this weird-ass figure that was part Cent, part seeing through her to the other side, and part seeing through her to some other place altogether!

Joe waved his hands overhead then pointed down the aisle in front of the shoe rental. Another Cent was there, looking just a weird.

Joe turned to Jade. "Right after I go, follow up closely. Let's see if we can get a conga line going. He then turned and walked towards his girlfriend.. and vanished! He just walked into her like he didn't even notice she was there and was going to knock her over and was _gone_.

"Over here!" I heard. I looked, and Joe was over by the other Cent, waving again and grinning. "It's the ultimate way to travel!"

Jade said, "Oh, Lord, the things I do." and started walking towards Cent. She reached out as she came close and when she touched, she vanished. I looked over by Joe and Jade was there, looking confused but okay. I did the same, and...I was down the hall, with no problems, no muss, no fuss. just like if Cent had jumped us normally. (Ha! Normally!)

Not everyone tried it, even with Cent reassuring us from the center of that strange hole in space, but it did serve as the best party trick _ever_. My friend Cent…. the ultimate moving walkway.

Cent stopped that thing she was doing and put an arm around Joe's waist, looking at us. She said, "I think that beats the hell out of being able to put a knot in a cherry stem!"


End file.
